It’s Wednesday! Which means it’s time for this week’s Mother of Intention post! This week, I’m so excited to have Erika from Plain Jane Mom joining me. She was a bit hesitant at first, and worried that perhaps our political sensibilities weren’t on the same wavelength. But as I’ve said before, this is a nice comfy place where we can all talk about our politics, whatever they are! Welcome, Erika!

For the most part, I loathe all politicians. I think there’s just something in your genes that makes you go into politics, and whatever that “something” is just doesn’t sit well with me. Needless to say, voting is always a Lesser of Two Evils choice for me.

So at this point in the campaign season, there are 3 candidates to choose from, and even though I’m a liberal, I took a close look at all three. Here are just a few choice nuggets of what I discovered about each.

I take issue with Hillary Clinton‘s claim of 30+ years of experience. Being the First Lady is not political experience. I know she was an insider and saw and did a great deal, but she was accountable to no one. She didn’t have a constituency. She wasn’t chosen by the people to represent the people.

I think John McCain is an interesting person — he sounds like a foul-mouthed son of a bitch who I’d love to run into at a bar — but he’s got the military too much in his blood. Even though we’re a country at war, I don’t want a president who feels that war is good for a nation’s soul. Cripes.

Then there’s Barack Obama. He’s got some experience, but not as much as I would like. My hope for him is that he will surround himself with smart, experienced advisers and learn from them. If he can pull off the neat trick of maintaining his authority while taking advice from others, I think he could be a pretty good president. If everything goes his way, he could even be remembered as Great. But if he can’t pull it off, we’ll have another Jimmy Carter.

I am pleased that it looks like Obama will be the Democratic nominee, but I have one worry. Those effing Superdelegates. My whole adult life I have been registered as either a Democrat or Independent, but if the Superdelegates do anything hinky to alter the will of the people, I swear to you all that I will go register as a Republican.

It will hurt me much more than them, but I just can’t be affiliated with a party that distrusts its people so much that it has to have babysitters making sure we don’t choose the “wrong” candidate.

Amen, Erika. I feel that same fear. that the will of the people could be thrown out the window by those who “know better”. It also makes me angry that Clinton wants to change the rules of the game now… regarding Florida and Michigan. She agreed before the fact that they would not count and now she is counting them. How transparent! Does she think we are stupid?

Erika, while your perspectives on the candidates seem most thoughtful, I am bothered this comment…

“For the most part, I loathe all politicians. I think there’s just something in your genes that makes you go into politics, and whatever that “something” is just doesn’t sit well with me. Needless to say, voting is always a Lesser of Two Evils choice for me.”

Are you referring to national politics, as opposed to all politicians in general? To say you “loathe all politicians” does a disservice to those in your own community who choose to serve to improve your schools, local governments, communities, etc.

Such blanket statements, in my mind, make you a less credible opinion-giver. It appears that no politician will ever get a fair hearing with you – since they are all “evil choices”.

While your concerns about superdelegates are valid, if you loathe all politicians and consider them evil choices, just how do you expect, through your voting, or other Party involvement, to ever create change in the Democratic Party’s way of doing business. Supporting and electing more dedicated public servants, ones who represent based on the will of their constituency instead of which candidate “seduces” them the most is one of the few avenues available in which change can occur.

While there are plenty of bad apples in any electorate, there are also many, many citizens who campaign responsibly, take their elected positions seriously, work hard for their constituents and deserve a fair shake with voters who are willing to open their minds and put aside negativity.

The superdelegates are no different from the electoral college. The Founders didn’t trust that ordinary citizens could vote based on issues and the good of the country rather than on charisma and pandering. If history is the judge, their fears were well-founded.

Clinton’s claims of 30 years of experience are no more irritating than Obama’s constant references to his single mom and grandmother raising lets him access his feminine side (more easily I am assuming then Clinton can get a grip on hers). The important thing is that voters don’t let themselves get stuck on single issues or statements. This race is too important to let personalities play a role.

McCain doesn’t care enough about women’s issues to even half opinions of his own on subjects like reproductive rights, requiring health insurers to cover contraception or whether or not school children are provided with sex ed. This father of daughters didn’t even rebuke a man who inquired how he was going to “beat the bitch” should his opponent be Clinton. What kind of man would allow a woman in any setting (though this was a professional one) be referred to as a bitch without comment?

I am not thrilled with our primary system because it weeds out viable candidate too quickly and is largely a money-fed popularity/charisma thing. This is not high school. We are not voting for the the Homecoming court. Who I would have dinner with and who I want running the country are not the same thing.

The presidency is a JOB! We are hiring the person to run our country. We shouldn’t be concerned with “legacies” or how “likable” someone is or isn’t. Who is the best qualified? Whose policies serve the majority of the people best?

We ended up with Bush because people liked him better than Gore. We ended up with him again because we allowed the 2004 race to be a single issue race – Iraq and because we bought the media notion that Kerry was an elitist (news flash – they all think we are mindless peons).

It’s sad to watch the way we so easily let electing our president be about everything but the job.

I think you are oh-so-right about Obama, though I do have some hope that he KNOWS he needs to shore up his (in)experience with the wisdom of people who have been around the block a few more times. The LAST thing this country needs right now is a president whose legacy will be to become the next “greatest former-president who ever got smarter after he left office”

Sen. Clinton has done so much more than just being the First Lady. Please don’t minimize her accomplishments.

McCain is a nice guy. I met him while at work. He and his wife came into our store. John McCain is a personable guy, as is his wife.

Obama repulses me. I don’t trust him. There is so much more we don’t understand about him. I have a hunch there is some scary underlying aspects about his ideas that will change this nation forever, for the worse.

Politicians go into their line of work to make a change, but after awhile they understand they have to play the game and become tainted.

he sounds like a foul-mouthed son of a bitch who I’d love to run into at a bar

Haha! Seriously, I could go drink with him.

But if he can’t pull it off, we’ll have another Jimmy Carter.

I think you’re right on. That’s my concern too.

I just can’t be affiliated with a party that distrusts its people so much that it has to have babysitters

On one hand, I like how Dem delegates (the pledged ones) are allocated proportionally – better representation of the voters – but the mess that’s been created with the potential of superdelegate play bothers me too.

Hey! Thanks for all the great info. I was browsing through a bunch of political websites and blogs (mostly liberal ones) and I came across your blog and find it to be very interesting. There are a bunch of others I like too, like huff post, and other news sites like politico. Do you know of any that cover politics and the environment? I saw earthlab.com which has mostly environmental info but some politics. I took EarthLab.com’s carbon calculator (http://www.earthlab.com/signupprofile/). I was pretty easy to use (and it doesn’t make me feel guilty after I take it). Are there any other blogs you would recommend? Can you drop me a link to your favorites or any ones with green info?